


Danger at Sea

by roswyrm



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Fairy Tale Style, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Literal Sleeping Together, Lowercase, M/M, No Plot/Plotless, except the spirit was a pretty lady and she was breaking a curse, i think there werent any lighthouses in the original but i like lighthouses, so there, this is based on an actual fairytale i read once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 19:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20215210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roswyrm/pseuds/roswyrm
Summary: Lost and cannot find my wayAngry waves repeatedly toss meTraveling alone, unsure of homeNot sure what my journey will cost me.Thunder cracks the sky in rageLightning strikes, danger at seaWhat karma have I deservedPlagued by Nature’s anger at me.Uncontrollable and roughThe downpour masks the sorrowReaching for an outstretched handLest I won’t make it to tomorrow.In the distance, hope arisesA sliver of promise in the lightWith renewed faith and convictionMy spirit says I’ll be alright.—Lighthouse, by Constance Gilmore





	Danger at Sea

**Author's Note:**

> its. two thirty am. i crossposted this (the whole thing) to tumblr. i don't know.

once upon a time, there was a man who lived in a lighthouse. sirens and mermaids would rap at his doors, and monstrous things lived in the town nearby, and he was too tired to be afraid of them. there had been a knocking at his door at midnight for months, and one night, he grew weary of it. he threw on a cardigan, lit a candle, rushed down the winding stairs, and slammed open the door. “what do you _want,”_ the lighthouse keeper asked, “i’m trying to sleep!”

but there was no tentacled horror waiting for him; just a green-eyed man surrounded by thick mist. “uh,” said the green-eyed man, startled, “a bed?” his legs disappeared into the pooling mist seeping into the lighthouse, for he was not human, and the lighthouse keeper saw this. he sighed.

“only if you stop knocking on my door at midnight,” the lighthouse keeper said.

“deal,” the green-eyed spirit said.

“deal,” the lighthouse keeper agreed.

the green-eyed spirit drifted into the guest bedroom, and he sat in the bed, awake. the lighthouse keeper went to his own bed and laid there, awake. when the sun came up, there was mist filling up the kitchen, for the door had been left open. the spirit was nowhere to be seen. “well. that’s that sorted,” thought the lighthouse keeper, and he shut and bolted the door.

* * *

the next midnight, there was a sharp rapping on the stone beside the lighthouse door. “if you’re here about the fisherman, i swear to— oh. why are you back? i told you to stop bothering me.” the candle’s flickering light shone nearly through the green-eyed spirit’s misty form.

“you said to stop knocking on your door at midnight.” the spirit waved a hand at the stone. “that’s not the door.” the lighthouse keeper felt a smile tugging at his lips, but he bit it down.

“what do you want, now?”

“a place to sleep.”

“only if you stop knocking on my lighthouse at midnight.”

“deal.”

“deal.”

and the green-eyed spirit drifted to the guest bedroom and laid there, resting for the first time in his existence. the lighthouse keeper went to his own bed and found that sleeping was easier than it had been for the first time in his life. when he awoke, his room was filled with mist, the lighthouse door was open, and the spirit was nowhere to be seen. “well. maybe he won’t come back,” the lighthouse keeper thought, and he shut and bolted the door.

* * *

but the next night, at one in the morning, there came a sudden thudding at the lighthouse keeper’s door. “let me guess,” said the lighthouse keeper, “it’s not midnight.” the green-eyed spirit only grinned, and the lighthouse keeper found himself laughing. “fine, fine. i’ll let you have it. what do you want?”

“someone to spend the night beside.”

the lighthouse keeper blinked. “i…” mist pooled around his ankles, stretching long and languorously into the kitchen. “yes. yes, that’s– o-only if. you. if you stop knocking on my lighthouse.”

“deal,” said the green-eyed spirit, soft and fond.

“deal,” said the lighthouse keeper, fragile and scared.

and the green-eyed spirit drifted with the lighthouse keeper, and the two of them laid down, together yet not touching, and they both slept deeply. when the lighthouse keeper awoke, it was barely moments before dawn, and he was curled into his pillow, clutching it tight to his chest. the lighthouse keeper rolled over and found himself amidst mist and the green-eyed spirit. “well,” the lighthouse keeper thought as the sun’s light shone through the green-eyed spirit so clearly that he became part of the fog once more, “maybe he’ll find a way to come back.” and he shut and bolted the door.

* * *

and the next night, pebbles hit the lighthouse’s windows. “i’m not knocking,” the green-eyed spirit said.

“you’re not knocking,” the lighthouse keeper agreed. “what do you want?”

“someone to spend the night with.”

and the lighthouse keeper’s breath caught in his chest as he said, “only if you don’t bother me anymore.”

“deal.”

“deal.”

and the green-eyed spirit drifted with the lighthouse keeper, and the two laid down together. when the morning came, the lighthouse keeper felt as the spirit faded from his arms. “well. he’ll come back tomorrow. he has to,” thought the lighthouse keeper, and he shut the door.

* * *

but the next night, nothing disturbed the lighthouse keeper at all. despite this, he couldn’t sleep.

* * *

and the night after that, nothing rapped on the stone or the door or the window. he still couldn’t sleep.

* * *

on the seventh night since the green-eyed spirit had first introduced himself, the lighthouse keeper got into a driftwood dinghy and rowed himself out to sea. “please,” he called, “please, dear spirit, where are you?”

the fog above the waves churned and solidified, and the green-eyed spirit rose up into the air. “why are you here?” the green-eyed spirit demanded. “you got rid of me. you were so broad that i couldn’t do anything about it, and i’ll never bother you again. what do you want from me?”

“a kiss,” said the lighthouse keeper. the fog seemed to recoil from him. “that’s what the ritual calls for, isn’t it? a bed, a place to sleep, someone to sleep beside, someone to sleep _with,_ and someone to kiss.”

“you said not to bother you!”

“you don’t bother me,” the lighthouse keeper laughed. “i said that so you wouldn’t have to work around my rules. i didn’t even bolt the door after you! and you didn’t come back, so i came to you, and i want a kiss.”

the green-eyed spirit stared at him. “are you sure?” he asked, soft and edging closer, the mist falling away from him.

the lighthouse keeper smiled, with tears in his eyes, and pulled the spirit away from the mist to hover above his boat. “a kiss,” he repeated.

“only if you let me stay.”

“deal.”

“deal.”

and the green-eyed spirit kissed him.

* * *

once upon a time, there were two men who lived in a lighthouse. sirens and mermaids would rap at their doors, and monstrous things lived in the town nearby, but one of them used to be a monstrous thing himself. and besides, they were too in love to be afraid.

the end.

**Author's Note:**

> im on tumblr @roswyrm i posted this whole thing there. im only posting it here for the Comments tbh


End file.
